I disagree about the bat being more important than what he brings defensively and with a pitching staff this young over the last 3 years. What he has done with these young pitchers over the last 3 years is remarkable and its why we have still been in the thick of it the last 3 years. The real issue is the rest of the lineup is not performing and people act like it's Maldy's fault, thats low hanging fruit and ignoring everything else.
No arm chair QB here. I called this before it happened. Good news is with a couple of moves they can fix what's wrong. There's a big difference between rebuilding a team from scratch and inheriting a multi 100 win team. Like you said, anyone with a brain can see that.
I never said it was more important, because it's not, but he can't be worse than most pitchers at the plate. Like I said, there is a line where his offensive ineptitude outweighs his defensive prowess, and he's crossed it. That line btw, is simply not being the worst full-time offensive player in the history of the league. Maldy is great defensively, but people are acting like he's prime Yadier Molina behind the plate. It feels like expectations have been conditioned with a lot of y'all. For comparison, his OPS last year was nearly 200 points higher. In 2020, it was 350 points higher, in 2019 it was 404 points higher, and in his first stint with us in 2018, it was still 278 points higher. I don't understand what many of y'all aren't seeing. If he can increase his OPS to previous year numbers, then fine, but I don't have confidence in that at all.
I will keep doing me for as long as I'm healthy. If you notice I only respond to other posters. That's why it seems like it does. Bottom line is a 100 win team has been neglected down to a 90 win team.
Who are you to say if he has crossed it or not? The season has just started, let's at least get a 1/4 way through before we start talking absolutes.
I accept that it's a fluid situation. In the edited post above I pointed that out, but I also do not feel confident in him returning to previous years offensive production.
I'm with you but don't use batting average bc that's irrelevant. I mean, 0.083 is awful though. OPS is a better standard stat, and the difference is even more pronounced.
While this is in no way a defense of Goodrum thus far this season, why do you say he "rotutinely" bats 2nd? He has hit second twice this year.
In my head it's been 50 times. At least 3 right? I just feel those games. They're burned in the brain.
He's been patient and working some walks, so if he could adjust his approach and slap a few singles, it would be fine. It's really bad rn.
Okay it was 2x in the 2 spot, 1x in the 3 spot, and another time in the 6 spot. That's 4x too many in those spots.
About 10 percent of the games he's played and about a third of his ABs have been from the 2nd spot in the order. Definitely fits routine. He's also batting in the top third of the order almost as much as the bottom third which makes it even worse and makes it feel like he's batted 2nd more than he has.
